The Brotherband's Sister

Pirates

There wasn't much warning when the pirates attacked them.
The Heron was gliding smoothly through the waters, and was about to round a corner of rocky cliffside. They'd been hugging the coast to avoid a storm at sea for some days now, and so they were coasting they waters around the rocky cliffs off the southern tip of Nihon-Ja.
They couldn't see around the cliff, so imagine their surprise when they rounded the cliff to see another ship coming towards them from the otter direction!
It was bigger than the Heron, with black sails and the figurehead of a mermaid. The ship was coming fast towards them and Hal started to change course so they'd go around the fast approaching ship.
He'd had the fright of his life when they'd suddenly seen the large hail bearing down on them, and he imagined the captain of the foreign ship was having a similar reaction.
" Hal! That ship's a pirate ship! Looks Magyarian to me," Thorn bellowed from the  bow.
" She's going to barely scrape past us! A perfect opportunity to grapple us if they wanted to," Hal growled in annoyance.
Stig muttered a curse containing something about Gorlog in it, but he then went to collect his beloved axe.
" Better be prepared for a fight. Lydia, prepare that Atlatl of yours just in case," Thorn growled, in his familiar gruff tone.

The pirate ship was so close that they could see men scurrying across the deck, weapons in hand and some had grapple hooks prepared to throw. Hal growled, he couldn't get last them with the cliffs on his left and them on his right, it wasn't possible to pass them peacefully. If their grapple hooks scraped the beautiful wood of his Heron he'd get rid of them all personally and with quite a bit of gladness.
" Lydia, send them a little greeting," Thorn directed.
" Gladly, old man," Lydia sassed him, a grin on her tanned face.
Hefting her atlatl high, she loaded a projectile, sighted and aimed at a particularly tall man by the prow.
With a perfectly timed and directed motion, the projectile flew through the air, straight in to the forehead of the unsuspecting victim.
The man let out a choking cry before falling backwards and lying motionless on the deck.
" Good shot," Thorn grumbled begrudgingly.
Lydia beamed and went to load another bolt in to her weapon.
Jesper and Stefan were holding their axes close, while Ulf and Wulf argued over their identical axes, that was, until Alex settled them down. Ingvar looked terrifying, his spectacles on for better view of the enemy, and his ferocious looking Voulge held tightly in his large hands.
Alex stood beside him, her twin silver blades gleaming in the sun, she held the, easily and looked ready for her first skirmish that she could remember.
" Get ready to fight," Stig growled.
Hal, who had retrieved his sword, stood to direct the helm and fight if need be since he had to keep the ship steady and safe.
The grapple hooks latched on to the Heron, making it hug close to the pirate ship. The  black and grey clad pirates let out a yell before leaping across the small gap and on to the Heron.
The battle was short lived.
The Heron crew stood against twenty pirates, and yet Thorn probably could've taken all twenty out himself the way he fought with his war club hand attachment!
He clobbered the pirates, smashing heads and limbs with a happy gleam in his eyes. The enemy generally steered clear of him.
Ulf and Wulf worked together to press two pirates who also looked like twins, to the edge of the Heron. They parried strikes with their axes, fighting together with practiced ease. One wouldn't know that they spent most people their time arguing, not when they worked so well together now!
Lydia and Hal worked together, cutting a path through the enemy back to the helm. Lydia made the pirates laugh, they looked at the girl and thought only of a weak damsel in distress! Lydia quickly changed their impression when one of her darts thudded between their eyes and sent them to an early grave.
Jesper and Stefan were fighting easily together, while Edvin slashed with his sword at a pirate in front of him, determination in his eyes.
And yet the most impressive fighters had to be Stig, Ingvar and Alex.
Stig and Ingvar, with their large strength, were like battering rams, waving through the pirates with ease.
Ingvar tripped them with the wooden end of his Voulge and then stabbed them with the axe head of the tip. Stig whacked the with his axe, slicing and hacking at the pirates.
The pirates were good fighters, but they didn't constantly train like the Herons and they didn't have the natural flare or skill needed for great fighters.
There was one moment, when Ingvar lost his spectacles and ended up almost blind stumbling slightly. The enemy he'd been fighting saw his opportunity and was about to stab him with his sword when a silver blade stopped his weapon. He starred incredulously at its owner.
Alex stood there, dark brown hair Wild and sticking up slightly, a simply murderous look on her petit face.
" Ingvar, your spectacles are right by your left foot," Alex informed him, before starting to fight again.
She swiped at his legs with one sword, which the pirate dodged by jumping up. Unfortunately he jumped right up in to her second sword which swiped at his head height and ended up slicing his neck. Two swords were better than one.
She continued slashing and hacking away at the enemy, a smirk on her face as sent another pirate in to the ocean below.
With that, the enemy were gone, the last three pirates who hadn't actually boarded the Heron quickly sliced the grapples and and let the Heron swing on by them.